Systems and methods for a mobile, community-based user interface

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a mobile desktop user interface for accessing and using community-based contact management, communication tools, websites and application pods in a convenient and integrated fashion via an online operating system. In one aspect, the mobile desktop application is accessed via a user's browser and provides access to the aforementioned community-based services in a convenient, integrated manner. The mobile desktop application can link social content, e.g., social networking sites, content, e.g., widgets made available on social networking sites, and billing mechanisms, all while maintaining seamless interoperability with desktop applications.

1 . A network platform for supporting a network-enabled application, comprising:
 a plurality of communication channels to a respective plurality of wireless network carriers, each of the wireless network carriers having a plurality of users;   at least one processor;   at least one interface having access to the internet;   a mobile desktop application;   social content;   at least one online application; and   an online operating system defining one or more sequences of instructions for integrating access to the social content, online application and the network enabled application via the mobile desktop application, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform:
 a selection receipt step of receiving, in the network platform, a contact address from one of the plurality of users via a webpage operated by the platform of the mobile desktop application; 
 a storing step of storing, in the network platform, information relate to the contact associated with the contact address; 
 a sending step of sending, in the network platform, a message to a device associated with the contact using the contact address in response to a command received from one of the plurality of users via a webpage operated by the platform; 
 an embedding step of embedding, in the network platform, of embedding a link in the message prior to sending the message, the link comprising a key; 
 a receiving step of receiving, in the network platform, the key in response to a selection of the link by the contact, the key being received through a webpage operated by the platform; 
 a sending step of sending, in the network platform, a question to the contact in response to the receipt of the key, the question asking whether the contact would like to interact with the platform; 
 a confirmation receiving step of receiving, in the network platform, and affirmative response to the question through a webpage operated by the platform; and 
 an account creation step of creating, in the network platform, an account for the contact. 
   
     
     
         2 . The network platform of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform a confirmation step of confirmation, in the network platform, what information the contact would like to have associated with the account. 
     
     
         3 . The network platform of  claim 1 , wherein the address is an email address, and wherein the message is an email message. 
     
     
         4 . The network platform of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform:
 a selection receipt step of receiving, in the network platform, a selection indication from the contact via a webpage operated by the platform of the mobile desktop application; and   a launching step of launching, in the network platform, the mobile desktop application in response to the selection indication.   
     
     
         5 . The network platform of  claim 4 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform:
 a second selection receipt step of receiving, in the network platform, a selection indication from the contact via the mobile desktop application of a network-enabled application, the selection indication including an application identifier and network location information corresponding to the network-enabled application;   a recognizing step of recognizing, in the network platform, the application identifier and the network location information and sending a request to an application server associated with the application identifier and the network location information;   a receiving step of receiving, in the network platform, code instructions associated with the selected network-enabled application in response to the request; and   a rendering step of rendering, in the network platform, the selected network-enabled application via the mobile desktop application in accordance with the code instructions.   
     
     
         6 . The network platform of  claim 5 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform:
 a billing event detection step of detecting, in the network platform, a billing event generated by the network-enabled application, the billing event containing an identification code corresponding to the contact; and   a billing message step of sending, in the case that the billing event is determined to be valid in the billing validation step, a billing message from the network platform to an external billing mechanism, the billing message containing a billing amount which the external billing mechanism bills to the contact.   
     
     
         7 . The network platform of  claim 4 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform:
 a selection receipt step of receiving, in the network platform, a selection indication from the contact via a webpage operated by the platform of the mobile desktop application;   a launching step of launching, in the network platform, a synchronization application in response to the selection indication;   a synchronization step of uploading, performed by the synchronization program in the network platform, content from the contact's device to an online storage area included in or interfaced with the network platform and the mobile desktop.   
     
     
         8 . The network platform of  claim 7 , wherein the content includes at least one of a document, a picture, a video, and music content. 
     
     
         9 . The network platform of  claim 7 , wherein the synchronization program is configured to periodically upload content from the contact's device. 
     
     
         10 . The network platform of  claim 7 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform a prompting step of prompting, in the network platform, the contact to purchase additional storage space in the online storage area for storing the uploaded content. 
     
     
         11 . The network platform of  claim 7 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to further perform an application launch step of launching, in the network platform, a content application associated with the content. 
     
     
         12 . The network platform of  claim 11 , wherein the content application can be one of a photo album, a video player, and a music player. 
     
     
         13 . The network platform of  claim 1 , wherein the address is an instant message user identification, and wherein the message is an instant message.